Bay Area appeal makes Lin good bet

Gwen Knapp

Published 4:00 am, Thursday, July 22, 2010

Photo: Chad Ziemendorf, The Chronicle

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The Golden State Warriors newest member, Jeremy Lin, spins a basketball on his finger in front of members of the media in Oaklance, Calif., on Wednesday, July 21, 2010.
Ran on: 07-22-2010
Palo Alto High alumnus Jeremy Lin has stepped from the Ivy League into the big league -- the NBA.
Ran on: 07-22-2010
Palo Alto High alumnus Jeremy Lin has stepped from the Ivy League into the big league -- the NBA. less

The Golden State Warriors newest member, Jeremy Lin, spins a basketball on his finger in front of members of the media in Oaklance, Calif., on Wednesday, July 21, 2010.
Ran on: 07-22-2010
Palo Alto High ... more

Photo: Chad Ziemendorf, The Chronicle

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Dallas Mavericks' Jeremy Lin tries to shoot over Milwaukee Bucks' Dominic James as Milwaukee's DeMarcus Nelson, left, looks on during an NBA summer league basketball game in Las Vegas on Monday, July 12, 2010.

Dallas Mavericks' Jeremy Lin tries to shoot over Milwaukee Bucks' Dominic James as Milwaukee's DeMarcus Nelson, left, looks on during an NBA summer league basketball game in Las Vegas on Monday, July 12, 2010.

The Warriors on Wednesday played great shut-down defense for the first time in years. They signed Palo Alto High graduate Jeremy Lin to a two-year contract, protecting themselves from the humiliation of seeing him in the Mavericks' backcourt or wearing Lakers gold and purple.

They can't entirely defend themselves against accusations that they're exploiting a feel-good story and trying to endear themselves to the Bay Area's substantial Asian American population. But if they can't stop the cynicism, they can certainly contain it.

Video clips from Lin's summer-league play in Las Vegas, where he more than held his own with No. 1 draft pick John Wall? Count them as blocked shots against concerns that no one deemed Lin worthy of a draft pick.

His 30-point, nine-rebound performance in December against the University of Connecticut, then ranked 12th in the nation? Mark it as a steal, taking away some worries about Lin's soft opposition at Harvard.

The two-year contract he signed, with a salary estimated to be equivalent to a deal for a low second-round draft pick? Chalk it up as a rebound, bouncing off the argument that sentiment may have overruled basketball sense.

Lin's deal is a low-risk, worthwhile gamble for the Warriors, who shunned an appealing Bay Area player with a great back story four years ago, when Oakland's Leon Powe entered the draft. They used the 38th overall pick on Serbia's Kosta Perovic, leaving the surgically re-engineered Powe at No. 49 for the Celtics, who put him to good use during their 2008 title run. Perovic played a total of 37 minutes in the NBA before returning to Europe.

An airball on Lin would have been far more embarrassing. So the Warriors, apparently with a nod from their new owners, squared up and took a proper shot. The sentimental value of the move became apparent almost immediately. As he sat for a meeting with Bay Area TV stations Wednesday, Lin had so many microphones clipped to his shirt, he could have toppled over from the weight.

The team drew only a fraction of this attention last month for its first-round draft pick, Ekpe Udoh. Lin understands that ethnicity is part of his allure and that many fans want to see him knock down stereotypes about Asian American athletes.

Yet he has become reluctant to set himself apart. In the past, he talked openly about the slurs he heard on the court, from players and spectators alike, but the issue started to overwhelm Jeremy Lin the basketball player, straying outside sports publications and into the pages of Time magazine. Now, he'll discuss the topic only minimally.

"It was bad the first couple times," he said. "But I just learned to block it out. It taught me a lot. It just made me a better player, just mentally stronger."

Asked whether the taunting ever stopped, Lin said: "Um, no." Does he expect more of it in the NBA? "Yeah."

His high school coach, Peter Diepenbrock, elaborated on the theme a bit. He pointed out that even people who don't mean any harm assume that Lin, whose parents came to the United States from Taiwan, doesn't have game. At least, not the same game as Kobe Bryant.

The first time Lin went to a Pro-Am game at Kezar Pavilion in Golden Gate Park, his coach said, someone there informed him: "Sorry, sir, there's no volleyball here tonight. It's basketball."

As Diepenbrock tells it, though, Lin is something of a natural. He hated drills in high school, the coach said, unless they had a competitive element. "Literally the worst practice player I've ever had," he said. "The worst."

Bear in mind, Diepenbrock is a huge fan. The work ethic corrected itself at Harvard, he said, when Lin realized that intensity and talent wouldn't carry him anymore. And in a critical game, Lin was a coach's dream.

"People try to break down his game and compare him to a C.J. Watson, maybe, but not with as good a shot," Diepenbrock said. "But Jeremy's game is not about the parts. It's about the will he exerts."

Donnie Nelson, the Dallas general manager, recognized something special and invited Lin to join the Mavs' summer team. Yet Nelson couldn't beat the Warriors, his dad's employer, to the signing. Lin said he felt bad about that, but the home team offered better opportunities in almost every respect.

He doesn't lack for loyalty, though. He had asked Diepenbrock if he could help at the coach's summer camp, which began Monday morning. The summer league in Vegas ended Sunday.

"So he drove all night in the family van," the coach said, "to get there by 8 a.m."

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